182 



N YS" 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



N YS 



e\er depth, unless in case of a sudden inundation, until it 

 attains the surface, where its leaf expands, rests, and swims 

 upon it, and sometimes rises above it. Though it is so diffi- 

 cult to rear this plant iu England, it bears the rigorous cold 

 of a Pekin winter. - The-Tree Lotus must not be confounded 

 with the Nympheea: MungoPark, in his extensive peregrina- 

 tions in Africa, discovered this to abound in all the countries 

 he-traversed, but flourishing most in asandy soil. It israther 

 a thorny shrub than a tree. The fruit is a small farinaceous 

 berry, which, being pounded and dried in the sun, is made 

 into excellent cakes, resembling, in colour and flavour, the 

 sweetest gingerbread. Theophrastus describes the Lotus 

 tree as sometimes less than a Pear-tree. The classic poets 

 represent it as an ao^iatic tree. 



7. Nymphsea Rubra; Red Water Lily. Leaves somewhat 

 peltate, sharply toothed, downy, with permanent reticulated 

 veins beneath, and prominent ribs above, their lobes divari- 

 cated and acute. Native of the East Indies. 



8. Nymphaea Versicolor ; Changeable Water Lily. Leaves 

 somewhat peltate, bluntly toothed, blistered on both sides, 

 their lobes approximated and rounded; petals pale blush- 

 ooienred. The root propagates itself by tubers, like the 

 potato, each tube flowering but once. Native of the East 

 ladies. 



9. Nympheea Ccerulea; Blue Water Lily. Leaves some- 

 what peltate, very slightly and bluntly toothed, smooth and 

 even on both sides'; rays of the stigma very numerous, in- 

 flexed. Its large and teautiful blue flowers are very fra- 

 grant, their stamens and pistils yellow. It blooms from 

 May to September; and may be very easily kept in a tub, 

 without being plunged into the bark bed. It is a native of 



Nyssa,; a genus of the class Polygamia, order Dioecia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix: perianth five-parted, 

 spreading, with a plain bottom. Corolla: none. Stamina: 

 filamenta ten, awl-shaped, shorter than thecalix; antherse 

 twin, the length of the filamenta. Hermaphrodite. Calix: 

 perianth as in the male; sitting on the germen. Corolla: 

 none. Stamina; filamenta five, awl-shaped, erect; antheree 

 simple. Pistil: germen ovate, inferior; style awl-shaped, 

 curved inwards, longer than the stamina; stigma acute. Peri- 

 carp.t draper Seed: nut oval, acute, scored with longitudinal 

 grooves, angular, irregular. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Ctilixi five-parted. Corolla: none. Male. Stamina: ten. Her- 

 maphrodite. Stamina: five. Pistil: one. Drupe: inferior. 

 These, plants may be propagated by seeds procured from the 

 places where they grow naturally, and put in to the ground as 

 soon as they arrive, for they always lie a year before they come 

 up. Sow them in pots filled with a light loamy earth, placing 

 them where they may have only the morning sun ; during the 

 first summer the pots must be kept clean from weeds, and in 

 dry weather duly watered. In autumn, plunge the pots into 

 the ground ; and if the winter should prove severe, cover them 

 with old tan, pease-haulm, or other light covering ; the follow- 

 ing spring, plunge them into a moderate hot-bed, hooped over 

 and covered with mats, observing constantly to keep the 

 earth moist. This will bring up the plants by the beginning 

 of May; when they should be gradually hardened, to bear the 

 open air. Curing the following summer, plunge the pots again 

 into an east border, aud duly water them in dry weather. In 

 autumn rempve them into a frame, where they maybe screened 

 from frost, but in mild weather exposed to the air. The 

 upring following, before the plants begin to shoot, part them 



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carefully, and plant each in a small pot filled with loamy 

 earth, nd if they are plunged into a moderate hot-bed, it will 

 accelerate their putting forth new roots; then they may be 

 plunged into an east border, and in winter sheltered again 

 under a frame. In the third spring, such plants as have 

 made the greatest progress, may be planted in a loamy soil, 

 in a sheltered situation, where they wil^ endure the cold of 

 this climate; but unless the ground be moist, they make very 

 little progress. They may also be pr&pagated by layers and 

 cuttings. The species are, 



1. Nyssa Tntegrifolia ; Mountain Tupelo, or Sour Gum. 

 Leaves quite entire; nuts roundish, striated. This tree rises 

 with a strong upright trunk to the height- of thirty or forty 

 feet, and sometimes nearly two feet in diameter; sending on 

 many horizontal, and often depending, branches. The timber 

 is close-grained and curled, so as not to be split or parted ; 

 and therefore much used for hubs of wheels of carriages. 

 Native of Pennsylvania. ., ff , ^MX 



2. Njisa Denticulata; Water Tupelo. Leaves remotely- 

 toothed; nuts oblong, grooved, somewhat wrinkled. This 

 tree rises with a strong upright trunk to the height of eighty 

 or a hundred feet, dividing into many branches towards the 

 top. The berries are near the size and shape of small olives, 

 and preserved in the same manner by the French inhabitants 

 upon the Mississippi, where it greatly abounds, and is called 

 the Olive-tree. The timber is white and soft when unsea- 

 soned, but light and compact when dry, which renders it very 

 proper for making trays, bowls, &c. It grows naturally in 

 wet swamps, or near large rivers, in Carolina and Florida. 

 There is a species called the Lime-tree, which is described 

 as singularly beautiful, growing naturally in water, in the 

 southern states of America, and rising to the height of about 

 thirty feet. Mr. Bartram informs us, that he saw large tall 

 trees of this sort on the banks of the Alatamaha river, growing 

 in the water near the shore. He calls it Nyssa Coccinea ; 

 and observes, that there is no tree which exhibits a more 

 desirable appearance than this in the autumn, when the fruit 

 is ripe, and the tree divested of its leaves, for then they look 

 as red as. scarlet, with their fruit of the same colour. The 

 most northern settlement of this tree yet known is on great 

 Ogeechee, where it is called Ogeechee Lime, from the acid 

 fruit being about the size of limes, and being sometimes used 

 in their stead. See the next species. 



3. Nyssa Candicans; Ogeechee Lime Tree. Leaves very 

 slightly petiolated, oblong, entire, cuneated at the base, hoary 

 underneath; female peduncles uniflorous; drupes oblong. This 

 appears to be the Nyssa Coccinea of Mr. Bartram above men- 

 tioned, the only difference being, that Pursh describes the 

 fruit as large and orange-coloured, not scarlet-coloured. He 

 states it to be full of an acid juice similar to a lime ; and that 

 it is round on the banks of rivers in Carolina, and particu- 

 larly on the river Ogeechee. 



4. Nyssa Villosa. Leaves oblong, very entire, acute on 

 both sides ; female peduncles subtriflorous ; nuts short-obovate, 

 and obtusely striated. Found in all the woods from New 

 England to Carolina. The flowers are small, and of a green- 

 ish hue ; and the berries black, and of the size of a pea. The 

 natives call it Sour-gum. See the 'first species. 



5. Nyssa Tomentosa. Leaves petiolate, oblong, acuminate, 

 remotely serrate, tomentose underneath; female peduncles 

 uniflorous; drupes oblong. Fruit the size of the preceding 

 species, of a dark blue colour. It grows on the banks of 

 the river St. Mary, and also in Florida. 



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